The Kiddie Core

Patience is not usually a virtue of fans, especially those who shell out nightly for entertainment and victories.

So when the Panthers paid the sometimes excruciating price of getting younger a year ago (two months and 15 games without a win), patience was the last thing on the minds of Panthers fans.

Last year at this time, President Bill Torrey was bombarded with questions about whether General Manager Bryan Murray's job was on the line.

Torrey denied, denied, denied, and when that didn't douse speculation, he finally sent out a news release stating that Murray's job was indeed safe.

Twelve months later, it's just a matter of time before Torrey is blitzed with questions about Murray again, only this time it'll be, "Hey, when are you going to sign this guy to an extension?"

In a span of a year, Murray has gone from Public Enemy No. 1 to the engineer of arguably the blockbuster trade of the '90s with his acquisition of one of the game's most exciting and talented stars, Pavel Bure.

While Bure will be a franchise cornerstone for several years, it's the core of developing young talent that Murray and his scouting staff has built around him that has optimism soaring.

Bure can't do it alone, something that was proved over time in Vancouver, so it's the youngsters evolving into important and improved players who should make up more than a supporting cast around Bure.

"I know we paid a big price last year by putting kids into the lineup over older guys, but now we're starting to see what these kids can do," Murray said. "They're constantly growing into impact players, and as they continue to grow, we should see better consistency with the team.

"The normal process for rookies] is they start off struggling trying to find an identity. I was counting on some of them this year, but I never expected them to make this much of an impact. This is going to be a cornerstone group for a number of years."

Especially Parrish and Kvasha, who get better every day.

"They've showed tremendous poise and composure throughout the year from the beginning," coach Terry Murray said. "Kvasha's a kid who had trouble playing half a year in the AHL last year, and he impressed us right from training camp. And for Parrish to come in and score goals the way he had, it says a lot about how physically strong and mentally mature all these kids are."

When Bryan Murray became GM in 1994, he saw a team full of castoffs that worked hard every night and had some success because of it. But at the same time, it was a veteran team only getting older, so Murray's game plan was to weed out many of the veterans.

Murray had the same philosophy when he was GM in Detroit.

Before Murray was hired there, he put together a written presentation for owner Mike Ilitch to explain his blueprint.

"When I came to Detroit, they were like the expansion Florida Panthers," Murray said. "They were old. Before I got hired, Ilitch] called me three days in a row wanting to hire me. I said, `Until you read my material and my philosophy, I don't want to go there. You have to understand what I want to do.'"

From 1991-92, Murray got rid of several Red Wings veterans while adding such young players as Keith Primeau, Chris Osgood, Martin Lapointe and Darren McCarty. He brought in many of the Russians, and they did take a hit at first.

"We brought good, young players in, and they struggled like crazy early on," Murray said. "Now they're the core of the team. I said basically the same thing here when I was hired. I said, `We're going to pay a price.' Because when you have guys that are 31 in 1996 and they're getting you to the finals, you know full well it's not going to be a long-term thing."

So unlike Ilitch, who gave up on Murray and has watched much of Murray's strategy lead his team to back-to-back Stanley Cups, Torrey and owner Wayne Huizenga have agreed to be patient.

"If you have a core of eight to 10 young players you either bring in at a young age or you draft and bring in, whatever you do around that after a while will have an impact," Murray said. "But those eight to 10 guys will always be the core guys that make your team competitive. It's the rookies and young kids that will have us winning here."

"It means the scouts are doing a good job," Terry Murray said. "I scouted last year, and I'll tell you, it's a tough road and lots of hours, especially at the amateur side of it. We should give them tremendous credit.

"We sit here and just put them on the ice, and we reap the reward for all their hard work, but it's great to see the kids play good and getting better as the year goes on."